Tonight I have several things to discuss.
First, an update to my holiday shopping list for any lover of history, music, show tunes, or just plain entertainment: buy the Hamilton soundtrack, and buy it NOW. I don’t care whether it’s a download, a CD, or individual bits on iTunes, just get it. It is every bit as good as the hype, both for the quality of the music and the lessons on history, finance, and government that crop up in the lyrics. Lin-Manuel Miranda and his merry band of multicultural Founders not only hit this out of the park, they hit it to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud.
Second, thanks to the book reviews I need to write between now and early February, including the one on the GIANT COFFEE TABLE BOOK O’DOOM, Arisia, work FINALLY beginning on the basement, and occasionally getting some sleep, January’s diaries will all be rewinds. I’ll have a list for you below the fold, but you if have any suggestions for early February in case I need to extend the Rewind Period, feel free to give them below.
Third, I did see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was good — not the best of the series, that’s still The Empire Strikes Back — but the acting was excellent (especially from John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Harrison Ford), the visuals were gorgeous, and the direction was brisk and fine. The plot was very familiar in many ways, but overall it was a solid and entertaining film.
Fourth, for those of you who live in the Pioneer Valley, I will be one of the storytellers at the Valley Voices Story Slam on January 21st at the Northampton Brewery! I’ll be posting all the gory details om due time, but I wanted to share this with everyone because I’m thrilled and terrified in equal measure. Hope to see some of you there!
Fifth, Gil the Wonder Cat has largely recovered from his Ordeal by Fleas and is currently ensconced on the foot of my bed, fluffy and somnolent and utterly adorable. He’s a good boy and I wouldn’t trade him for a thousand boxes of terrible books.
Sixth, there is no sixth. Even I have my limits.
Now, on to the list!
As I said in number two (above), January will be devoted entirely to rewinds since I have two book reviews due to The Sixteenth Century Journal. I may need to extend this to the first two weekends in February depending on how work goes on the second review, but if that’s the case I’ll announce it in the introduction to the last January rewind. Regardless, after that I’ll have fresh material, some good, some bad, and some really, really awful:
January 9 — The Roots of Controversy, Part I (rewind)
January 16 — The Roots of Controversy, Part II (rewind)
January 23 — Dreams From My Mother (rewind)
January 30 — Lo! Wild Talents! (rewind)
February 6 — either The Story of Two Soldiers (new) or Nazi, Schmazi! (rewind)
February 13 — either Museums of Wretched Excess (new) or “I Cannot Tell A Lie, I Trashed the Cherry Tree!” (rewind)
February 20 — Romantic Sap for the Ages
February 27 — A Wooden Anniversary
March 5 — Not So Supermen
March 12 — The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring, Tra-La!
March 19 — Little Man, Was It Worth It?
March 26 — Spring Cover Art Edition
So there you have it: the first quarter of 2016. It will be a busy time for us here at the Last Homely Shack, and I hope these humble offerings make up for the lack of fresh material to start the new year. “RL comes first” as we say in fandom, and this applies whether it’s going to an SCA event, staying up late for the premiere of a long-anticipated film, or writing these diaries.
Happy New Year!
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So...do you have any ideas for future diaries? Future rewinds? Movies/books/TV shows I should check out in the coming months (aside from Agent Carter and Captain America: Civil War, which I already have marked on my calendar)? It’s a quiet Saturday night in Massachusetts so come share….
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